13 OBJECTS · 2 m TO 33 m

Size It Up: Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are a category of pure imagination: nobody has a memory of standing beside one. The set pairs a Velociraptor (much smaller than the films) with giants like Argentinosaurus and Brachiosaurus, so the misses can run in both directions.

The Dinosaurs set holds 13 measured objects, from a Velociraptor at 2 m to an Argentinosaurus at 33 m — the numbers on this page cover a factor of about 17. Each one is measured on the axis the game scores: standing height for things you would walk up to, longest visible span for everything else. Every size below links to the published measurement it came from.

THE NUMBERS

How big are these, really?

All 13 objects in the Dinosaurs set, smallest to largest. Each rung is compared with the one below it, so the category reads as a single ladder rather than a list of unrelated figures.

2 m

Velociraptor length / span

Velociraptor: Real Velociraptors were closer to turkey-sized than movie monsters. Source ↗

6 m

Pteranodon Wingspan length / span

Pteranodon Wingspan: Measured across the wings — a span no living bird comes close to. About 3× the length of a Velociraptor. Source ↗

8 m

Ankylosaurus length / span

Ankylosaurus: The tail club weighed tens of kilos and could swing hard enough to break bone. About 1.3× the length of a Pteranodon wingspan. Source ↗

8.5 m

Allosaurus length / span

Allosaurus: The common large predator of its day: far more Allosaurus fossils exist than T. rex ones. About 1.1× the length of an Ankylosaurus. Source ↗

9 m

Triceratops length / span

Triceratops: The skull alone could reach 2.5 m, among the largest of any land animal. About 1.1× the length of an Allosaurus. Source ↗

9 m

Stegosaurus length / span

Stegosaurus: A brain the size of a lime, in a body as long as a bus. Practically the same length as a Triceratops. Source ↗

9.5 m

Parasaurolophus length / span

Parasaurolophus: The hollow head crest may have worked like a trumpet. About 1.1× the length of a Stegosaurus. Source ↗

10 m

Iguanodon length / span

Iguanodon: Its thumb spike was first reconstructed, wrongly, as a horn on the nose. About 1.1× the length of a Parasaurolophus. Source ↗

12.3 m

Tyrannosaurus rex length / span

Tyrannosaurus rex: A large T. rex reached around 12.3 metres long. About 1.2× the length of an Iguanodon. Source ↗

15 m

Spinosaurus length / span

Spinosaurus: The longest predatory dinosaur known, and probably one that spent much of its life in water. About 1.2× the length of a Tyrannosaurus rex. Source ↗

22 m

Brachiosaurus length / span

Brachiosaurus held its neck upward, making it far taller than long-tailed sauropods of similar length. About 1.5× the length of a Spinosaurus. Source ↗

25 m

Diplodocus length / span

Diplodocus: Almost half of Diplodocus was tail, which may have cracked like a whip. About 1.1× the length of a Brachiosaurus. Source ↗

33 m

Argentinosaurus length / span

Argentinosaurus: Some estimates place this giant at more than 30 metres long. About 1.3× the length of a Diplodocus. Source ↗

PLAY IT

Play the Dinosaurs set

Reading the numbers is one thing; sizing them by eye against a reference silhouette is another.

The daily puzzle mixes every category, so these objects turn up there at random. For a set built only from them, Unlimited deals five of them at a time, as often as you like. Unlimited is practice: it is unranked and never touches the daily leaderboard. New to the game? How to play covers the rules and the 0–500 scoring in two minutes.

KEEP GOING

Other categories

Every category has its own page of measured sizes. Landmarks and space produce the biggest scale shocks; sports and everyday objects are the fairest places to calibrate your eye.